The 2009 Perseid Meteor Shower

Source - NASA Science News for July 31, 2009

Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, setting the stage for the 2009 Perseid meteor shower.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/31jul_perseids2009.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml

Are We Alone for 07/27/09 - TXT MSG: Behavior

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Behavior
ENCORE: From iPods to Google to Facebook – information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected – but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the second of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.
Part II: Behavior: how computers compel us to interact with them… why your iPod may improve your health… why Facebook may leave you friendless… the unintended consequences of past innovation… and the growing threat of “videophilia.”

Guests:

• BJ Fogg – Experimental Psychologist and Director of Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab
• James Levine – Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
• Andrew Keen – Author of The Cult of the Amateur; How the Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting our Economy
• Patricia Zaradic – Conservation Ecologist with the Red Rock Institute
• Edward Tenner – Writer and consultant on technology and culture at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences and, most recently, Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Aurora Surprise

Source - Space Weather News for July 22, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

AURORA SURPRISE: Last night, July 21st and 22nd, a solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field and surprised observers with an unexpected display of auroras. Northern Lights swept across parts of Canada and descended as far south as the Dakotas, Montana, Iowa and Wisconsin in the United States. Photos of the display are featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com .

AURORA ALERTS: Did you sleep through the show? Next time get a wake up call from Space Weather PHONE: http://spaceweatherphone.com.

JULY 22nd SOLAR ECLIPSE GALLERY: The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century is over and, despite a disappointing rainstorm over Shanghai, millions of people witnessed the event. Highlights may be found in our eclipse gallery. Start browsing here: http://spaceweather.com/eclipses/gallery_22jul09_page3.htm

Total Solar Eclipse--Full Coverage

Source - Space Weather News for July 21, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

SOLAR ECLIPSE: The longest total eclipse of the 21st century is about to begin. It starts just hours from now at approximately 9 p.m. EDT on July 21st (0100 UT on July 22nd). The path of totality crosses many major cities in India and China, setting the stage for possibly the best-observed eclipse in history. Photos from the path of totality will be posted on http://spaceweather.com as the event unfolds.

COSMIC COLLISION: Evidence is mounting that something did hit Jupiter no more than a few days ago. The impact site (a dark "scar" in Jupiter's clouds) was discovered on July 19th by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley, and NASA astronomers quickly confirmed the find. Infrared photos posted on today's edition of Spaceweather.com are consistent with an asteroid or comet strike on the giant planet. The debris zone in Jupiter's clouds is itself as wide as a small planet, making it an easy target for backyard telescopes.

SPACE WEATHER ALERTS: For less than the cost of a night at the movies, you can get real time space weather alerts on your cell phone and never miss another big solar flare or geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather PHONE: http://spaceweatherphone.com.

Longest Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century

Source - NASA Science News for July 20, 2009

The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century takes place this Wednesday, July 22nd. The path of totality crosses many major cities, setting the stage for possibly the best-observed eclipse in human history.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/20jul_longestsolareclipse.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml

New "Mission Control" channel + Apollo 11 40th Anniversary

Posted on behalf of SomaFM:

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and landing on the Moon, with a live NASA rebroadcast set to music as part of SomaFM's new "Mission Control" channel.

http://somafm.com/play/missioncontrol

Also available on our iPhone and Palm Pre streams.

Mission Control will feature ambient space music that's somewhere between Space Station Soma and Drone Zone, mixed with NASA audio. In the future, we'll have other historical space exploration rebroadcasts as well as live Space Shuttle coverage.

Hope you enjoy it!

Rusty Hodge ~ SomaFM

Possible Impact Event on Jupiter

Source - Space Weather News For July 19, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

JUPITER IMPACT? On July 19th, a veteran observer of Jupiter in Australia photographed a fresh dark "scar" in Jupiter's cloudtops; the feature resembles the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts of 1994. It is possible that Jupiter has been struck anew by an asteroid or comet. Astrophotographers around the world should train their optics on Jupiter to confirm the event and monitor its progress. Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and updates.

SPACE WEATHER ALERTS: For less than the cost of a night at the movies, you can get real time space weather alerts on your cell phone and never miss another big solar flare or geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather PHONE: http://spaceweatherphone.com.

Are We Alone for 07/20/09 - TXT MSG: Thought

Are We Alone - TXT MSG: Thought
ENCORE: From iPods to Google to Facebook – information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected – but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the first of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.

Part I: Thought: whether Google is making us stupid… how the Internet is curtailing creativity… and the future of a hyper-networked world that does all our thinking for us.

Guests:

• Nick Carr – Journalist and author of The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. His article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is the cover story of the July/August 2008 issue of Atlantic Monthly
• Jonathan Grudin – Researches human-computer interaction at Microsoft Corporation
• David Kirsh – Cognitive scientist, University of California, San Diego
• Jonathan Zittrain – Author of The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It and co-founder of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Apollo Landing Sites Photographed

Source - NASA Science News for July 17, 2009

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned its first imagery of Apollo landing sites. The pictures show lunar module descent stages, scientific instruments and even 40-year-old foot trails made by astronauts walking across the dusty lunar surface.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jul_lroc.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml

Exploring the Moon, Discovering Earth

Source - NASA Science News for July 17, 2009

Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts set out on a daring adventure to explore the Moon. They ended up discovering their own planet.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jul_discoveringearth.htm?list894285

For more information about space and space exploration, visit our Home page: http://science.nasa.go

Wide Awake in the Sea of Tranquillity

Source - NASA Science News for July 15, 2009

Why couldn't Neil Armstrong fall asleep on the Moon? The answer is revealed in today's suspenseful story from Science@NASA.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/16jul_wideawake.htm?list894285

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!

Noctilucent Clouds Invade the USA

Source - Space Weather News for July 15, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS GO WILD: An intense display of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) lit up the skies of Europe and North America last night. Bright electric-blue tendrils were visible through fireworks during Bastille Day celebrations in France, while the clouds descended as far south as Nebraska in the USA. Sky watchers should be alert for a repeat performance tonight. Observing tips and photos of the July 14th-15th display may be found at these URLs:

Europe: http://spaceweather.com/nlcs/gallery2009_page12.htm

USA: http://spaceweather.com/nlcs/gallery2009_page13.htm

Please visit http://spaceweather.com for updates.

The Virtual Telescope Project

Posted on behalf of Valentina Romeo of the The Virtual Telescope Project:

Join us to enjoy the Universe from your Desktop! Just connect with the Virtual Telescope website: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu

The Virtual Telescope is a project of the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory (Italy), created and managed by Dr. Gianluca Masi, PhD. It consists in a number of robotic telescopes, remotely accessible via the Internet for observing the skies, 24h/day. It is a single user facility: a given observer/team will be the owner of the instruments during the observing session.
If necessary, more people can access the telescope at the same time, one of them being the conductor, the others being the “audience”.

The VT is very active in both research and science communication. Asteroids and comets, variable stars and exoplanets are some of the field of interest and it contributed with discoveries and significant results in all of them.

Since it started in 2006, the Virtual Telescope was a pioneer in broadcasting live observing sessions and conferences, experimenting with the most modern technologies available.

The Virtual Telescope is currently used both by researchers and hobby astronomers, thanks to its specifications; the system was carefully fine-tuned to perform at its best in photometry, but it can be used in many different applications. Also, people with no astronomical experience at all surf the sky with us, thanks to our professional staff, skilled in science communication.

Special attention is paid to schools.

We are also available for media looking for assistance with astronomical, cosmological, astrophysical topics.

The Virtual Telescope is a no-profit project: for some advanced services we ask for a small fee to contribute to the maintenance of the system and its cutting-edges technologies. A pro-bono option is also available (working on its English web page).

If you want to learn more about this project, just surf our website here: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/


Contact information:

Mailing list: info@virtualtelescope.bellatrixobservatory.org
Info: info@virtualtelescope.eu
Phone: +39 3349236690 (Mon-Fri 4:00PM - 8:00PM CET)
Fax: +39 07751800159
Skype: virtualtelescope

Are We Alone for 07/13/09 - Rxs Get Personal

Are We Alone - Rxs Get Personal
Medicine’s back.. and this time it’s personal. Get ready to have your genome read… your brain scanned… and undergo a chemical analysis so detailed, it’ll reveal the Twinkie you had for lunch. Everyone’s different, and reading those differences at the level of the gene may provide a more accurate profile of health and how to treat disease. But are you ready to know what’s wrong with you?

Discover the future of personalized medicine with biologist Craig Venter, as well as a man who turned his body over to the new science. Learn what his tests revealed.
Plus, why stem cell research really is a horse race. And, why getting sick is sometimes the best thing.

Guests:

• Craig Venter – Genome scientist
• Frank McCormick – Director of the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco
• David Ewing Duncan – Journalist and author of Experimental Man: What One Man’s Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World
• Sharon Moalem – Neurogeneticist and Evolutionary Biologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of Survival of the Sickest
• Sean Owens – Director of the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the University of California, Davis

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

The Beating Heart, Minus Gravity

Source - NASA Science News for July 10, 2009

When astronauts travel through space, the human heart loses something it seems to need: the Earthly pull of gravity. Is this a problem? NASA is launching a new study to find out.

FULL STORY at: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10jul_cardio.htm?list894285

Moonship Photographed by Backyard Astronomers

Source - NASA Science News for July 9, 2009

Amateur astronomers have photographed NASA's LCROSS spacecraft en route to an October crash landing on the Moon. Observers say the spacecraft is surprisingly easy to photograph, and NASA hopes more amateurs will give it a try.

FULL STORY at: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/09jul_lcross1.htm?list894285

What's Following the International Space Station?

Source - Space Weather News for July 8, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

WHAT'S FOLLOWING THE ISS? Sky watchers are reporting a "mysterious satellite" following the International Space Station (ISS). It trails the ISS by about one minute, relatively faint, but definitely there. Mystery solved: The follower is Progress 33, a Russian supply ship. On July 12th, it will come within meters of the space station to test a new automated docking system. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times and get two spaceships for the price of one: http://spaceweather.com/flybys

BLUE MOON OVER IRAN: Blue moons are not a myth. This week, sky watchers in Iran have seen them appear in the night sky. The full Moon is turning blue because of a major dust storm blowing across the Middle East. Today's edition of http://spaceweather.com features space-based images of the behemoth storm, the blue moons it is causing, and an explanation of the phenomenon.

SUNSPOT UPDATE: The first big sunspot of new Solar Cycle 24 is growing again. So far, sunspot 1024 poses no threat for major eruptions, but it is a big, photogenic target for backyard solar telescopes. Readers who would like instant notification of solar flares and geomagnetic storms can get them by signing up for Space Weather PHONE: http://spaceweatherphone.com.

Are We Alone for 07/06/09 - Skeptic Check: Sheer Lunacy

Are We Alone - Skeptic Check: Sheer Lunacy
Watch out, the moon is full… of intrigue. Our lovely satellite is blamed for all sorts of Earth-bound mischief – from robberies to shape-shifting to general nutty behavior. It’s also the setting for more than one loony tale. In this hour, as NASA spacecraft return to the moon, a look at the mythology it inspires.

Discover the true correlation between crime and a full moon… the 1835 reports of unicorns and man-bats living on moon… and, our favorite hair-raising howler: the werewolf! Also, why some still insist the Apollo moon landing is a hoax. Discover the true correlation between crime and a full moon… the 1835 reports of unicorns and man-bats living on moon… and, our favorite hair-raising howler: the werewolf! Also, why some still insist the Apollo moon landing is a hoax.

Plus, space travel – boxed and bundled.

Guests:

• Phil Plait – Keeper of the skeptical website badastronomy.com and author of Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .
• Matthew Goodman – Author of The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York
• Jim Underdown – Executive Director for the Center for Inquiry West, Los Angeles and keeper of the blog Hollywood Reality Check
• June Pulliam – English professor, Louisiana State University
• Cynthia Phillips – Scientist at the SETI Institute
• Paul Spudis – Senior scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Are We A Blog?, the companion blog to the radio show.

Sunspot Alert

Source - Space Weather News for July 4, 2009: http://spaceweather.com

The sun is putting on its own 4th of July fireworks show. A new sunspot is rapidly emerging in the sun's southern hemisphere and it is crackling with B-class solar flares. The magnetic polarity of sunspot 1024 identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. It appears to be the best offering yet of the young solar cycle. Check http://spaceweather.com for images and updates.

ALERT: For less than the cost of a night at the movies, you can get real time space weather alerts on your cell phone and never miss another big solar flare or geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather PHONE: http://spaceweatherphone.com .

Space Station Marathon

Source - NASA Science News for July 3, 2009

The International Space Station (ISS) is about to make a remarkable series of flybys over the United States. Beginning this 4th of July weekend, the station will appear once, twice, and sometimes three times a day for many days in a row.

FULL STORY at: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/03jul_sightings.htm?list894285